Forico brings a financial figure to sustainability and Tasmanian timber

The report, written by Forico Future Fibre, looked at nearly 90,000 hectares of forest plantations alongside 77,000 hectares of natural forest in Northern Tasmania covered by the trust.

Forico Future Fibre is a private forest manager based in Kings Meadow and is the state's largest private forest manager.

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Rather than only looking at sustainability measures, this report investigated the financial performance and sustainability with environmental performance.

Forico financial officer Rayne van den Berg said the report was about having businesses integrate sustainability into their financial decision making.

"The third of its kind to be released by Forico, the Natural Capital Report first put a dollar value on the Natural Capital assets under management by the company," she said.

"This year, the 2022 report focuses on the estate's most material ecosystem services, of carbon sequestration , emissions, habitat for biodiversity, biomass provisioning, water flows and sediment control."

Ms van den Berg said there were increasing expectations from investors and communities for all businesses and industries to disclose their impacts and dependencies on the natural environment clearly and with integrity.

"As an industry that has a direct impact and responsibility for land custodianship, we take this responsibility seriously and we can only value what matters if we measure and report on these metrics to guide better decision making for people, planet and prosperity," she said.

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Tasmania's Resource Minister Felix Ellis said initiatives such as Forico's latest Natural Capital Report underscored the value of Tasmania's multiple-use forest estate and the continuing part it will play as we look to the future.

"Sustainable Timber Tasmania, in partnership with Forico and the National Institute of Forest Products Innovation, is also investigating natural capital accounting and new opportunities this may generate in realising value from our public forest estate," she said.

"With the global shift to a low carbon future continuing, the future is as bright as ever for Tasmania's sustainable forestry sector to continue providing timber, jobs and positive environmental outcomes."

The report found with leading governmental offset schemes would value natural forest areas at more than $6.9 billion.

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The forestry area covered by Forico is a net absorber of 1.4 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the period during 2020-2021.

The report engaged experts foresters, sustainability professionals, environmental accountants and resource information analysts.

Ms van den Berg said plantation timber forests are certified to the highest sustainable forestry standards, while native and natural forest is managed for conservation, biodiversity and cultural value.

"The forestry wars are still in living memory for many people here in Tasmania and on the mainland, and the story of where we have come from is important but more so the story of where we are going is even more important," she said.

"The dual changes or climate change and biodiversity loss need urgent and cohesive effort by everyone to solve - sustainable forestry is a proven solution at scale to draw down carbon emissions from the atmosphere now whilst also providing us with solutions for the future with timber and fibre to replace non-renewable alternatives."

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